The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 31, 111-116, Copyright © 1981 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Results of aortic valve replacement in patients with a narrow aortic annulus: effects of enlargement of the aortic annulus
T Mori, Y Kawashima, S Kitamura, S Nakano, K Kawachi and T Nakata
Among 71 patients who underwent aortic valve replacement with a Bjork-
Shiley prosthesis, 13 (18.3%) had concomitant enlargement of the aortic
annulus at the noncoronary cusp. Mean age of the 13 patients at operation
was 34.4 years. Nine of them had combined mitral stenosis. One patient died
in the early postoperative period, for an operative mortality of 7.7%. The
aortic annulus before enlargement was 20.9 mm and after enlargement, 24.3
mm on the average. The net increase in diameter of the aortic annulus was
3.3 mm, which was statistically significant (p < 0.005). The tissue
diameter of the prosthesis was 1.2 mm larger on the average than the aortic
annulus diameter before enlargement, and a prosthesis at least one size
larger could be implanted in the narrow aortic annulus.